I
have to apologize. I did not want to put photography based topics in
this column anymore. My reason was, I could easily put 50% or more of
the content here toward photography, as I am trying to improve my skills
and inspire myself to shoot more. And I started a photography column for
that very reason.

Yet here I am talking about a lens. So I am sorry. I had nothing else
to tell you this month.

I have spent the last month doing little else but looking at cars and
camera stuff. The car watching has been for a series of
Car Corner and
Classic Watch articles I have planned out for the next 6 months or
so (notice that both of those columns this month have the same
sub-title). The camera stuff is coming from having taken a photography
seminar that really boosted my creative juices, and the purchase of a
new lens.

Back in August I saw a "deal alert" from
Adorama for a Canon EF
28-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM lens. It was a refurbished lens for
$219. I have been wanting a better zoom lens than the kit lens that came
with my camera, and I knew I was going to need a better
lens when I go on vacation in December to Orlando. So I pulled the
trigger and bought the lens. The regular price for this lens is $479
new. I am completely satisfied with this refurbished lens. I love it.

I also took Scott Kelby's -
Shoot Like a Pro seminar in August as well. This was just a
coincidence from a timing standpoint, but it worked in my favor. Part of
the seminar was on landscape and travel photography. I took as much
information as I could hold in my brain... and on Labor Day I went to
The Alamo to take pictures as the sun came up. I followed everything I
could from the seminar.

If you want to take amazing pictures... stand in front of
something amazing

Be there and setup before sunrise

Use a tripod

Use a cable release

Turn off image stabilization (because you are on a tripod)

Use the lowest ISO (because you are on a tripod)

Well, I did all these things and took a bunch of pictures. The
picture above is the final result. The three inset pictures were taken
later in the morning, as I walked around downtown San Antonio and the
Riverwalk.

Be sure to click on the image above for the full resolution photo.

The first inset picture is a waterfall inside the park that the
Hemisphere Tower is in. I used the tripod so I could use the slowest
possible shutter speed to give the water the feeling of motion. The
second it a shot of the Hemisphere Tower itself (I believe this is the
tallest building in San Antonio).

The third is some umbrellas along the Riverwalk. If you Google
Riverwalk images you will see tons of photos of these umbrellas that are
along the river that people eat under while at the restaurants there. I
was walking up through a tunnel and thought the reflection of these
umbrellas in the water was a unique way to photograph something that has
been done a thousand times from above.

In fact... the entire image above was my attempt to make The Alamo
look more interesting than the millions of photos out there.

My goal was to make an image that was good enough for a travel
magazine. I think I nailed it.
What
do you think?

Conclusion

Hopefully I will have something else to write about next month. But
it is getting harder and harder as all that is on my brain is
photography at the moment.